Yep, I can remember them exactly. There was also a moment where Lovren raced out of defence with the ball and when faced with an opponent, did a stepover and went past him. Then he remembered he was a defender and passed the ball sideways then walked back into his own half.
Big opportunity to put on a show for the cameras next week. Let's hope for a big crowd and a big win!
I agree we play too narrow but more importantly we are lacking in attacking quality. We defend brilliantly as a team, the high press creates good chances and we are also beginning to attack better as a team but I feel we just don't have the attacking personnel. Only lambert, ramirez and to a lesser extent davis and lallana are capable of splitting the defence the way United did routinely. That was the difference between the two sides. they had, rooney janusaj and van persie creating clear cut chances whereas we started the match with virtually no creativity. Davis played a nice ball and lallana played a great ball to clyne, and set up osvaldo but other than that we were lacking a cutting edge. I was very critical of pochettino at the star of the season as I thought he had it wrong tactically but we have improved a lot since the first 4 games and are now moving the ball quicker and with some actual purpose. Now I think our problems offensively are due to a lack of attacking ability rather than a tactical problem. We just don't have the firepower, creativity, or a player that can win a match by themselves.
It is a highlight show though, and those were the highlights, if they had to show both the main highlights of every game and then balance them by filling them in with less noteworthy moments, the show would run an extra 40 minutes and it would cut their sustained viewership in half.
We've definitely upped the tempo at times in transitioning from defense to attack, especially after taking away the ball. It still has a tendency to bog down in the final third, but if we can get our hands on a creative player -- heh, or if by some miracle Gaston both returns to the fold and comes good -- that should open up holes. That's the relative luxury of our position; we do enough things well now that even that relative failing isn't causing us to perform poorly, it's just preventing us from destroying teams in those matches where we control the flow of the game.
Mauricio has the players that he has and has moulded them into a team that is effective...we all love racing wingers who cross the ball into the area but we haven't got one and we don't play that way...I am prepared to live with this and be near the top of the table. Yes, United hit the woodwork and could have scored more, but they didn't. As have other teams. This could be because we have harried them to death (as mentioned on MOTD) and they try too hard and take snap shots...millimetres can make the difference. We attack as a team and defend as a team, we are fit and give them no peace, we try to offer them a bad option as the only option...we are no longer an average side with a couple of good players. As for set piece goals, Arsenal won the title by scoring mainly from corners...all goals are goals.
I was pleased that they only showed a snippet of the game. It shows that no-one thinks its a shock result. And it wasn't, we matched them in every department and outplayed them at times. Utd have some great individuals but I felt that we were the better TEAM throughout. The only controversial thing I would add is that I still would prefer Cork over Wanyama, who, once again gave the ball away too often, and that Osvaldo was possibly our worst player. That said, as a pairing it was possibly Wanyama and Schneiderlin's best performance of the season, so they should only get better, and easily Schneiderlin's best as an individual. Special mention also to Clyne and Lallana. Neither of whom will be picked for England of course but on that performance they ought to be considered.
Guly has been on the pitch both times in the last two games and each time, we have not lost. This is clearly a sign.
Watched the stream yesterday and have to agree. We're right up with Barca & Bayern Munich without the football in the way we press. Uniteds front three were excellent yesterday and a Saints team of old would have been hammered 3 or 4, but despite them rattling the bar a couple of times we really restricted Rooney & RVP in possession in dangerous areas. How great was Morgans challenge on Welbeck? As far as entertainment goes i've really enjoyed this game and the Swansea match. It's clear that Saints are not the issue but opponents which park that bus. Looking forward to Fulham as i'm not aware they own a bus, but do have a fleet of limos
I don't know if anyone has mentioned this; I just looked at the stats for the game, and noticed that Lallana had 93% pass completion. This is really good for a central midfielder, but for an attacking player that's absolutely sensational, I'm really glad he's showing his class.
Some people are never happy maybe NC is like this, if so I would feel a little sorry for Pochettino! But then you need someone who is going to keep pushing you to win everything! NC's list of targets for next season. Win every game, don't concede any goals, score the most goals, no yellow cards or red ones!
I agree with much of what you are saying, we have lost a bit of flair. However, the fact is that we actually created considerably MORE chances than Man Utd and had more shots on target. So we must be doing something right even if it didn't appear that way.
